The President
The President directs the Institute. He supervises the carrying-out of acts and decisions pursuant to the Convention, and is responsible for administration.
The Institute’s current President, Josep Borrell Fontelles was born in Spain in 1947 and graduated in Aeronautical Engineering in 1969.
He obtained his Ph.D. in Economic Sciences in 1976, and in 1984 became Spanish State Secretary for Finance, and from 1991 – 1996 he was Spanish Minister for Public Works, Transport, Environment, Housing and Telecommunications. Between 1999 and 2004 he was President of the European Affairs Committee of the Spanish Parliament. After one year as Member of the European Convention, in 2004 he was elected President of the European Parliament. From 2000 – 2008 he was Director of the European Studies Seminar of the International University of Santander and of the Malaga University at Ronda. In 2009 he was elected President of the EUI and took office on 1 January 2010.
Josep Borrell Fontelles succeeds Yves Mény, fifth President of the Institute, former Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the EUI. Previous Presidents of the Institute were Patrick Masterson, Max Kohnstamm, Werner Maihofer and Emile Noël.
The Secretary General
The Secretary General assists the President in his organizational and administrative duties.
More specifically, he deals with the management of the EUI administration, relations with EU Member States and third countries, and the EUI communications and public relations policy.
Pasquale Ferrara is the Institute’s Secretary General.
Ferrara joined the Italian Foreign Office in 1984 and has spent much of his career in Italy and abroad, including postings in Chile and the United States. Positions in Europe include Brussels where he was involved, amongst other things, in the launching of the European Convention.
Over and above his diplomatic duties, he continues to carries out research into the theory of international relations, and has published numerous articles in specialized journals and is author of several volumes on international relations and political theory.
At the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs he was Head of the Press Office and Spokesman for the Minister, and subsequently Director of the Analysis and Planning Unit of the Ministry.